Donkey Konga 3 Playtest

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Classic Nintendo themes should be in every game.

By Anoop Gantayat

While GameCube owners in America will have to remain content for now with just one set of songs for their conga controller peripheral, Nintendo Japan has just given gamers across the Pacific their second expansion pack. Following up on last year's Donkey Konga 2: Hit Song Parade is Donkey Konga 3: Tabe-houdai! Haru Mogitate 50 Kyoku. IGN picked up the import in order to get a preview of how future stateside Donkey Konga expansions may look.

Donkey Konga 3 adds, as its most prominent feature, a massive set of fifty new songs. Check out our song list from an earlier update. With fifty songs, you can be sure there's something for everyone in the list. Surprisingly, now that we've played the game, we've come to appreciate even the songs that we weren't familiar with -- yes, even the J-pop songs that we'd never heard of. There are so many songs that the game's song-selection screen actually takes too long to navigate!

Nintendo has done a fantastic job of creating fun beat sessions out of these songs. The rendition of Bingo, with claps gradually covering up the entirety of the "B-I-N-G-O" chorus is particularly memorable. We also had lots of fun in hard and easy modes for songs such as The Entertainer, William Tell Overture and La Cucaracha (we're going to have to practice a bit more before having fun in expert mode).

Of course, as with any Nintendo-based music game, one expects the most fun to be had of the videogame theme songs, and sure enough, there are some classics included. Star Fox and Smash Brothers are represented with their theme songs, but our favorite is a wacky theme from Mawaru Made in Wario. See our new videos for a look at our playing this.

The Nintendo influence goes even further with classic NES themes! Ready to be unlocked are at least fifteen NES/Famicom era theme songs. We were able to unlock the Super Mario Brothers first level theme quickly and didn't stop playing it until we'd gotten a perfect score. For this theme, Nintendo actually created a mix of the level song, a sped up version signaling that time is running out, the music for when you're invincible, and the chime that plays when you reach the end of the level. We can't wait to play the other themes.

On top of the new songs, Nintendo has added a number of new modes for Donkey Konga 3. Shuffle mode has been the most interesting so far. In this mode, songs have their notes remapped, so what was once a clap in normal mode will now be a right tap and what was once a left tap will now be a clap, and so-forth. This not only gives you a new way to play the songs once you've mastered them in normal mode, but it often changes the difficulty.

There's even a strange mode involving a special banana tree. As the game's prologue explains (yes, there's a story this time around), this special tree, which is located on a nearby island, is the source of the conga controllers that Donkey Kong and friends use for their music sessions. As you play Donkey Konga 3, the tree slowly grows, and every 100 days (which translates to at least 15 music sessions), it produces bananas. To get the fruit, you have to play a quick mini game in which you launch Donkey Kong through the air via a cannon, attempting to hit a target on the tree. We're not sure if there's any point to collecting bananas yet, but at least the mini game is kinda fun.

Unfortunately, we've yet to unlock one of the more exciting new modes: Trial Mode. To play this mode, once it's been unlocked, you have to pay money that you've earned by performing well in your music sessions. This mode is set up like a mission mode where Cranky Kong asks you to perform a variety of tests. Tests include facing off against the computer in battle, scoring above a preset score, and others. We get the feeling that this mode will add greatly to the single-player longevity of Donkey Konga 3.

And, of course, all the modes and features from previous Donkey Konga titles return with Donkey Konga 3. Cooperative and versus play are included for up to four players once again, allowing players to team up for concerts or face off in battle. Single players will find lots to collect, from expert versions of all the songs to lots of sound effect packs, some of which cost so much money that you're going to have to do some work before buying them. Those who have a save file from previous Donkey Konga games will be able to import their old sound effect packs.

With fifty songs, classic NES/Famicom themes and lots to unlock, there's no question that Donkey Konga 3 is a worthy update to Nintendo's music series. Let's hope the first stateside expansion pack is as fulfilling.